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Heavy in point guards and centers…part II of the three part
series for best players in the NBA is here! (You can view Part I here.)
Players 11-20:

20. Tony Parker

If it weren’t for Big Al, Tony Parker would be the most
underrated players in the league. A 12-year NBA veteran and four-time NBA
champion, Parker rarely gets the respect he deserves prior to being crowned a
champion. The other aspect is that with Gregg Popovich as coach, it’s difficult
to truly judge an individual player’s value within a team system that runs so smoothly. Duncan didn’t make my top-30 simply because his
minutes will continue to drop, but that’s no knock against the 38-year-old
future Hall of Famer.

19. Damian Lillard

Not-so-quietly becoming one of the league’s most dependable
clutch scorers, the Oakland native burst onto the NBA scene in 2012. With a
Rookie of the Year award, NBA All-Star vote, and playoff appearance already
under his belt, Lillard still has untapped potential. His incredible Game 1 in the first round of the 2014 playoffs against Houston was the first time a player went for 30+ points and only one
turnover in their playoff debut. He finished that series with a game-winning
buzzer beater. Lillard’s only problem is that the point guard position is
stacked with more All-NBA talent.

18. Joakim Noah

The face of the Chicago Bulls in Derrick Rose’s time on the
sideline over the past few years, Noah’s fiery personality has instilled a
ferocity within the Bulls’ defense. Jonathan
Abrams wrote a feature on this heart of Chicago a couple weeks ago that
illuminated the started-from-the-bottom-now-we-here story behind Noah. The 2014
Defensive Player of the Year is quietly one of the best passing bigs in the
game. His assist numbers have increased every single year he’s been in the
league (starting in 2007-08): 1.1, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.5, 4.0, 5.4.

17. Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk’s Mavs competed with the eventual 2014 champion San
Antonio Spurs better than LeBron James’ Miami Heat did. That says a lot about
the leadership and one-legged fade-aways from the 36-year-old German. While his
defense has always been rather comical (a recent example), every
shot chart of Dirk is video-game like. That shot won’t go away this year, and
with Tyson Chandler on board, some people see the Mavs entering the fray with
the likes of the Warriors and Rockets in the teams knocking on the door of the
West’s elite.

16. Rajon Rondo

This was probably the toughest decision in terms of ranking
because like Derrick Rose, Rondo’s injury history leaves something of a
question mark in his 2014-15 capabilities. However, if opening night for the
Celtics and a rout of the Nets was any indication—with the usual
near-triple-double numbers from Rondo—there’s no reason he has left the
discussion for top NBA point guards. Now, whether or not he stays with the C’s
remains to be seen…

15. DeMarcus Cousins

23-12-3 in 2013-14 and you
probably didn’t even know it. Cousins may be in the running with Lance
Stephenson for the Ron Pandaworld Peace Crazy Man award, but he boogies down
low. One of the best offensive centers in the NBA, Boogie Cousins will make a
very strong case to earn his first All-Star appearance. If the Sacramento Kings
can make a push for Rajon Rondo, you might be looking at a second playoff
threat in Northern California.

14. Marc Gasol

Marc and his brother, Pau, were heavily hyped prior to the
2014 FIBA World Cup as a legitimate threat to dethrone the United States. They
didn’t even make the Final. Despite an impressive start, Marc did not impress
in Spain’s matchup with France, going 1-of-7 from the field and grabbing four
rebounds and no assists. Memphis can never seem to make that jump come
playoffs, but Gasol’s value as an all-around big (offense, defense, leadership)
puts him firmly in the top-15 NBA players of 2015.

13. Dwight Howard

Howard’s numbers have definitely cooled off since his
21-13-2 and two blocks days as a member of the Orlando Magic. The whole Los
Angeles fiasco made one of the most likable players in the NBA suddenly become
hated by the league’s largest fanbase. His free-throw shooting hovers
around 50 percent, so D12 leaves much to be desired in terms of a polished offense. But
defensively, he is still as good as it gets. Paired with the player one spot
ahead of him, Howard is a post-game away from being a true franchise player…and
still only 28 years old.

12. James Harden

He told us this off-season that he’s going to spend more
time focusing on his defense. Those YouTube montages with him almost literally
falling asleep on defense were awful. He can’t be considered a top-10 player
with such an anemic defensive ability. Maybe
he shows us something different this year but I need to see it to believe
it. His offensive skill-set, however, is top-notch. Harden's shooting range and playmaking
combine with a knack for getting to the free-throw line at will. (Harden was
second only to Kevin Durant in free throw attempts per game in 2014, with 9.1
FTA per game.)

11. LaMarcus Aldridge

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Portland Trailblazers to a
scorching hot start in 2014. Yes, they did cool off as the season wore on, but
LMA came back in the post-season with a vengeance. He destroyed Dwight Howard
and James Harden’s Houston Rockets in the first round as nothing short of an offensive juggernaut.
His final numbers for that series: 30 PPG, 11 RPG, 2 APG, 3 BPG, and 82 percent
from the line. Sure, he cooled off against the eventual champion San Antonio
Spurs in the Conference semis, but he proved his singular value last season in
both the regular and the post-season. I know I won’t be overlooking Portland’s
foundation in 2014-15.

The 2015 NBA season is finally underway! One of the classic
columns that I’ve written each year since the beginning of Bases and Baskets is a ranking of the best players in the NBA. I
decided to expand the ranking from the usual top-10 players to a 30-player
ranking. I didn’t quite agree with the ESPN rankings in some parts…but I do
think that Lakers legend Kobe Bryant is no longer in this conversation. Here’s
Part I, with players 21-30:

30. Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose still has a lot to prove coming off of his
second injury in as many years. There’s no doubt that his upside is MVP-worthy,
but he needs to show he isn’t the guy who put up bagels in the 2014 FIBA World
Cup.

29. Lance Stephenson

Michael Jordan spoke very highly of Lance Stephenson and
likes the way that the young guard competed last season with LeBron James.
Nobody doubts that he can be a bit of a headcase at times, but his talent is
clearly worth it. I’m on board with a 20-5-5 potential from Born Ready. He’s a poor man’s Russell Westbrook who competes
on both ends of the floor.

28. Kawhi Leonard

The 2014 NBA Finals MVP has been declared the future of the
San Antonio Spurs franchise. Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili are (very) slowly
fading—at least minutes-wise. Kawhi has proven to be a LeBron-stopper who can
also score when called upon. As more responsibility is placed on his shoulders,
there’s no reason to see he can’t climb up these rankings. I’m not yet sold on
him as a franchise player.

27. Klay Thompson

As much as this summer was about LeBron James, Klay Thompson
came in a firm second place. The Warriors ended up deciding the value of
Thompson as a shooter, defender, and friend of Steph Curry outweighed Kevin
Love’s superstar value. Klay has added new wrinkles to his game each season in
the league, improving his defense and offensive play-making ability to add to
his second-to-none shooting ability. Kobe Bryant spoke highly of the young shooting guard, saying Thompson “has the
whole package.”

26. Goran Dragic

Dragic, a disciple of Steve Nash, showed last season that he
could contribute and take on the leadership required of a franchise. The
Phoenix Suns did not make the playoffs in 2014, but in a loaded Western
Conference, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Phoenix kept their core and will
only get better behind their point guard(s), Dragic and Eric Bledsoe.

25. Serge Ibaka

The third-best player on his own team, Serge Ibaka is a
beast on the interior. Unlike Kendrick Perkins, Ibaka is also an offensive
threat and a Chris Bosh-lite. Although Ibaka isn’t a franchise player, there
isn’t a team in the league that couldn’t use the talents of Ibaka.

24. Chris Bosh

Always a second- or third-wheel behind LeBron James and
Dwyane Wade in his tenure in Miami, Chris Bosh will emerge as the go-to option
in 2014-15 for the first time since his Toronto days. Bosh acknowledged on Monday that Chicago and Cleveland are ahead of Miami in
terms of talent, but was also quick to point that they have the chance to be a
very, very good team. I went so far as to predict a career year from Bosh, and
nearly 50-40-90 numbers from him.

23. Al Jefferson

Al Jefferson has to take home the title of most underrated
player in the NBA. He doesn’t have that ESPN-ready superstar highlight reel but
his post-game is the most-polished in the game (aside from the aging Tim
Duncan, who plays less minutes). Hopping from Minnesota to Utah to Charlotte
doesn’t help that cause, but I’m expecting big things from the revamped
Hornets.

22. Kyrie Irving

An incredible talent, Kyrie Irving will take a back seat in
Cleveland for the first time in his NBA career. It will be interesting to see
how the shoot-first point guard plays alongside two of the NBA’s greatest stars, LeBron James
and Kevin Love.

21. Dwyane Wade

Like Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade has taken a backseat with the
acquisition of the now-departed LeBron James. I’m still a firm believer in what
Wade has left in the tank even though his knees aren’t cooperating as he would
like. He said he didn’t develop an outside shot this off-season which is
worrisome, but he’s still just shy of a top-20 player in the NBA.

The 2014-15 NBA season is finally (almost) upon us. And what NBA blogger or sportswriter starts the season without some bold predictions? This isn't going to be like Zach Lowe's predictions column for Grantland where Cleveland leading the league in points per possession counted and Indiana missing the playoffs counted as bold. Enough with the introduction, let's get straight into the meat of some predictions that will make you raise your eyebrows more than once BUT will be supported with more than a desire to jump on or off a team/player bandwagon...

San Antonio will not be a
top-three seed

I pulled a Gregg Popovich and may have outsmarted not just
him, but also you, with this pick. After all, when you’re dealing with Gregg
Popovich, you have to think at least ten steps ahead. You thought that I’m
picking against the Spurs with this
prediction…but I’m not. Popovich is the master of the regular season and the
post-season. He’s like the Mamba of coaches (who took home almost every coaching award in the annual NBA GM survey). He waits and waits and
pounces just when the time is right. As his team ages, he doles out fewer and
fewer regular season minutes to his starters. I foresee that trend continuing
to the point where he doesn’t mind losing out to the Thunder, Clippers, and
Warriors in seeding.

Dallas, the 8 seed, gave them the hardest battle in the 2014
playoffs, so seeding only matters so much. Pop knows a healthy squad is more
valuable than home-court through the Western conference playoffs if the two are
mutually exclusive.

Terrence Ross will average
18-6-4

For a guy to make the jump from 11-3-1 to get to 18-6-4, we’re
talking about a most improved player-worth leap. But for T Dot who can leap out
of the building on any given dunk, I think it’s possible considering he has a
maniacal fan base and great team around him. His point guard, Kyle Lowry, just
got $48 million guaranteed so he’s ready to throw out some dimes. 2014 Terrence Ross can put up 2013 Klay Thompson-type numbers. Ross is quietly a 40 percent three-point
shooter who goes crazy on left corner threes (47 percent), a vital shot as determined by NBA efficiency gurus.

I’m going to throw in a bonus prediction: Toronto will be a
No. 2 seed over Chicago and Washington. The dynamic between Paul Pierce and the
Wiz young backcourt will be interesting. I’m not sold on Derrick Rose until
I see him thrashing through the Leastern conference defenses. Bagels in FIBA competition is not reason for optimism with the former NBA MVP.

TNT will suspend Charles
Barkley once

It’s too easy to make this just a bold playoff predictions
article. Plus, the side stories are often nearly as entertaining as the games
themselves. In fact, some off-season talk on the BS Report landed in this realm
and suggested that the NBA free agency period receives more attention than the
NBA games. The celebrity appeal crosses into the sports realm more frequently
than just when a Kardashian hops from dating one NBA player to another (yes, Lamar
Odom and Kris Humphries, I’m looking at you).

Charles Barkley on Inside
the NBA was and is must-see TV. More than once, I wouldn’t re-watch a TNT game if I had missed it live… but I would scroll back to the halftime shows.
Those short segments with Chuck, Kenny, Shaq, and Ernie were always exciting
because you never knew when someone would drop what Jalen Rose calls a
“don’t-get-fired” moment. If you didn’t see Barkley's antics describing San Antonio
women, go to YouTube right now and watch them.

He was one step away from getting suspended. If ESPN can put
Bill Simmons on vacation for calling the NFL commissioner a liar with some cuss
words sprinkled in, then TNT could suspend Chuck for some inevitably outrageous
comment this year.

LeBron James will continue
his year-over-year increase in FG% that began in 06-07

He’s climbed from a "paltry" 47.6% to an unfathomable 56.7%.
LeBron James doesn’t have much more room to improve but he’ll figure out a way to do it.
Kevin Love will be spotting up and working P&Rs, Kyrie will finally learn
how to play within a team concept, and Dion Waiters chip on his shoulder is still Goliath-sized.

LeBron has been raving about new head coach, David Blatt. I almost
wanted to throw out a prediction that would only turn out to be
outrageous…LeBron will average a triple-double. Two main reasons I decided
against it: 1) LeBron slimmed down. I’m expecting him to play less at the power
forward spot and more at the 3 (hence lower rebounding numbers). 2) Blatt and LeBron may come to the agreement
that the best player in the game needs to rest more. This won't stop the best player in the game from an efficiency level that you can’t reach in NBA 2K15.

The Lakers will have the
fewest wins in their 54-year Los Angeles history

26 wins or less. And if I’m setting the over-under at games
Steve Nash plays at that same number, I’m taking the under there, as well.
Unless Linsanity 2.0 erupts in Los Angeles, the combination of Lin, Kobe, and
the self-anointed Swaggy P could be a scoring backcourt gone oh-so-very-wrong.
Iso-ball + jacking up contested shots = losses.

As if a team of defensive sieves wasn’t enough, Byron Scott
decided to take down any chance at improved offensive efficiency. The new
Lakers coach wants his team to take 10-15 threes a game. A Twitter account has been born out of Scott’s desire to
essentially eliminate the most efficient shot in the game (the corner three). @HaveTheLakers MadeACorner3? is a
real thing. At least Kobe will be able to shoot 9-28 and put up big scoring
numbers…right?

Chris Bosh will come
surprisingly close to 50-40-90

And the award for 2014-15 Biggest Chip on His Shoulder goes
to…. Chris Bosh! The ramifications of the LeBron move ripple throughout the
NBA, but nowhere moreso than King James’ former team. One thing that LeBron did
do for Bosh was help create the necessity for a three-point shot, something
that became a weapon for the stretch-5. With LeBron gone, Bosh can go back to
working in the paint in addition to spreading the floor with his three-point
shot. What does this mean? A lot of mismatches and increased efficiency. His career peaks in FG% and FT% are 54 and 84, respectively. Last year, he was 34 percent
from 3. Coming within a total of 5-7 percentage points of the 50-40-90 club
would be a career year, but for a rejuvenated former All-Star who’s still only
30, it’s not too outrageous.

(For good measure, the second place finisher in the Biggest
Chip on His Shoulder was another casualty of the LeBron trade: 2014 no. 1
overall pick, Andrew Wiggins.)

Carmelo Anthony will hit the
30 points per game mark for the first time in his career

The East has significantly improved from last year to this
year. However, the Knicks have almost been part of that upward trend. The
pick-up of Jose Calderon at point guard will prove to be a significant upgrade
to the ever-ballooning Raymond Felton…and I don’t mean ballooning in skill.
Newly-minted head coach, Derek Fisher, and the Zen Master, Phil Jackson, should
be able to maximize the ability of their roster, unlike Mike Woodson.

The relationship between Iman Shumpert, a player that I
believe has a solid upside despite a career FG% south of 40, and former coach
Mike Woodson was tumultuous (as Phil Jackson recently pointed out). Put all of this together, and Carmelo
Anthony is right in position for a career year. I’m not expecting his assist
numbers to skyrocket, but the 30ppg mark is well within reach for one of the
NBA’s top-2 scorers.

The 76ers will not have the
worst record in the NBA

This is probably the least likely prediction out of all of them. Most pundits consider the 76ers falling to the bottom inevitable. I'm going to go the other way because unlike the Sixers, the Jazz are in the West. Dante Exum still has to prove he can compete with the best basketball players in the world. I think
eventually he’ll be a serviceable starter/borderline All-Star, but I’m taking a
flier on this year’s Nerlens Noel before I take one on Exum. The Celtics are cellar contenders when they eventually trade a malcontent Rajon Rondo. It’s a tough call,
but I’ll take the field in the competition for the NBA’s 2014-15 Least Likely
to Agree to Lottery Reform.

Klay Thompson will be a 2015
All Star and get his max contract

…and he’ll be considered underpaid a few years down the line
when the new TV contract leads to the eventual gradual or rapid salary cap
spike. The younger Splash Bro has already said that he prefers the contract extension now instead of waiting for a
long-term deal once the new cap hits. Dan Feldman of NBC Sports has pegged this
extension to be worth $89 million and last through the 2020 NBA season.

For comparison, if he sought a Parsons like deal, he could
make nearly $100 million in that same time-span. If Klay does accept an
extension by October 31, it’ll put him in the pay grade of the top-five shooting
guards in the league, something he is well-worth. I’m betting on Klay to have a
big year under new coach, Steve Kerr. Former Warriors coach, Mark Jackson, was
a great friend to (most) players in his locker room but left much to be desired
in terms of on-court strategy. The lack of ball movement is one of Jackson’s
main failures as an HC, and Kerr is already turning that around.

Better (and more) motion will lead to open shots, and open
shots for one of the game’s best shooters will be lethal. Klay will be in the
20-5-4 range when the All-Star break rolls around and find himself playing
alongside Steph Curry in the game. Hype matters when it comes to All-Star
voting, so Klay’s FIBA success and the ever-increasing spotlight on the
Warriors will push him into All-Star glory.

Now, I’m going on record saying that the Warriors can
support two All-Stars with two defensive stoppers, potentially the best defense in the league, and a bright coach. So I’m ready to make my boldest
prediction and become the first person to predict that…

The Golden State Warriors will win the 2015 NBA Finals

The squad that the Warriors will put on the floor is as good
as any teams. Superstar? Check. Shooting? The best. Perimeter and interior
defense? Third-best defense in the league last year. Bright, young coach
surrounded by a great staff? Finally. What about the bench? With Brandon Rush, Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, Mo Speights, and Draymond Green coming off the bench, this squad has all the pieces. And the thing that will always go
underrated…chemistry? SB Nation called them the Weird Warriors for a reason. They are a little weak in the Veteran Leadership Dept., though.
Only David Lee and Leandro Barbosa are the sole players older than 30…and they’re both only 31 years
old.

They showed in 2013 that they can beat the Spurs. That Game
1 collapse in Round 1 emotionally throttled the team but they still made the
Spurs fight to win a series I still feel the Warriors should have won (and
would have under a better coach). In 2014, they took a Sternly-motivated
Clippers team to seven games with their second-best player sidelined. Twice in
a row, it’s been so close you could taste it. Both times against two top teams,
you felt they had it within reach. All they’ve needed is a #FullSquad and
good coach.

I love everything that I’ve seen so far from Steve Kerr. The
way he handles the team, the media, his staff, and himself is how you want your coach to do it. I’ve
picked a favorite to win each of the past three NBA Finals and it’s time to change
that up. This team has the potential for a top-3 offense and top-3 defense. I’m
all in on the Warriors.

The new NBA season begins on Tuesday, October 28, and looks set to be another exciting year of basketball action. This
will be the 69th time the NBA Championship has been contested and
the opening game of the new campaign will feature the defending champions, the
San Antonio Spurs, taking on the dangerous-looking Dallas Mavericks. San
Antonio will be keen to pick up where they left off, and get the defense of
their title off to a successful start. The Spurs are 10/3 second favourites to make it back to back NBA Championship wins,
and Gregg Popovich's side should make a bold bid to do just that if their
recent record is anything to go by. It would be a shock if the Mavericks were
to upset the Spurs come October 28th, and an even bigger surprise
were the team for Dallas to make a sustained bid for the 2014/15 NBA
Championship. The Dallas Mavericks did win the title in 2011 but that was their
only championship to date and the odds compilers at betfair.com have put the
Mavericks in at odds of 33/1 to add a second NBA crown this time around.

Favourites to capture the NBA Championship this season are the Cleveland
Cavaliers. In recent
times, the Cavs have done little to suggest that they may be capable of
challenging for major honors, but the 2014 off-season has seen there be
dramatic change for the 2007 Conference Title winners. Euroleague coach David
Blatt joined on June 20th, after leading Maccabi Tel Aviv to the
2014 Euroleague Championship. Blatt was named
2014 Euroleague Coach of the Year and his arrival should definitely see
an upturn in fortunes for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tyronn Lue has also joined
the coaching staff, becoming the highest paid assistant coach in the NBA and
that was topped by the return of LeBron James to the playing roster. Kansas'
Andrew Wiggins also arrived as the number one pick of the NBA Draft and it
looks like the Cavs have gone all out to ensure that this season is a
successful one. Their record 26-game losing run in the 2010-11 season will be
firmly put to bed should David Blatt manage to deliver an NBA Championship in
2015.

Outside of the big two, the Oklahoma City
Thunder definitely cannot be discounted in this season's NBA title race. Having
won division title for the last four years in succession, Oklahoma are one of
the most consistent teams in the National Basketball Association, and are
arguably overdue a second NBA Championship. The Oklahoma City Thunder last won
the title way back in 1979, when they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics.
This side became the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008 following a dispute between
owner Clay Bennett and lawmakers in Seattle, Washington. A relocation ensued,
and the Thunder have managed to establish themselves as a real force too be
reckoned with in the NBA since.

Other sides with realistic NBA Championship
ambitions for the upcoming season include the Chicago Bulls, the Los Angeles
Clippers and the Houston Rockets to name but a few. It remains to be seen
whether any of them can stop the San Antonio Spurs from winning back to back
NBA titles, but it certainly looks like we are in for yet another year of
enthralling NBA action!

This article was written by a guest columnist. If you are interested in writing a column, contact our support team!

[Editor’s
Note: Daniel Fotinich is a regular reader, and a good friend, who wanted to
throw his hat in the ring with some bold predictions prior to the commencement
of this highly anticipated NBA season. I won’t give anything about his work
away here…just give it a read!–
Elijah Abramson]

One of my favorite things about the NBA is
debating outrageous claims made by others. It seems that almost every year, a
few things that basically nobody predicts happen (and the few that predicted
them have an ego that skyrockets). Many people have different definitions of a
“bold prediction”, but I will use this one: A bold prediction is one that is
significantly different than what the general consensus is among NBA fans and
writers. So, even though plenty of Golden State fans might think that “Stephen Curry
averaging 30ppg this year” is actually highly likely, the average impartial fan
or writer would think the chance of that is very slim. Keep in mind that this
is also a matter of degree; most people around the NBA believe that the Heat
will decline, but saying that they will miss the playoffs with both Wade and
Bosh would qualify as a bold prediction.

Without further ado, here are 9 bold predictions
for the 2014-2015 NBA season:

The Indiana Pacers will miss the playoffs.

In fact, I don’t even think it will be close.
The only teams in the East that I am confident will be worse than Indiana are
Philadelphia and Orlando. I’ve always liked Indiana and their hard-nosed
defense—I picked them to make the NBA finals last year over Miami. However,
their well-publicized decline in the second half of last season was extremely
concerning. Zach Lowe noted that over the last 30 or so games that Indiana had
the worst offense of any team in the league besides Philadelphia. Now, that
already-putrid offense loses the only two guys who can actually create their
own shots. Lance Stephenson is now in Charlotte (more on that later), while
Paul George fractured his tibia and fibia and is unlikely to play this season.
They replaced those two with… Rodney Stuckey and CJ Miles? David West has had a
great run in Indiana, but he’s already 34 and will have much less space to
shoot his patented 18-footers. Hibbert has almost no offense to speak of, and
the rest of the team is full of complimentary offensive players. A team with a
bottom-five offense and a middle-of-the-road defense (Stuckey and Miles are
obvious defensive downgrades from Stephenson and George) isn’t a playoff team.
I think the Pacers will be lucky to win 30 games even if George makes a
miraculous return. So who will take their place? Well…

The New York Knicks will
make the playoffs.

In fact, I have them as the sixth seed and
possibly winning a playoff series. Carmelo Anthony just signed for five years,
and now that he can finally afford to feed his family, he should be solely
focused on winning a championship in New York City. Jose Calderon isn’t a great
defender, but he is a significant upgrade over Ray “Cheeseburger” Felton, and
his pass-first style will help create better shots for Carmelo, Shumpert, and
others. Although both Carmelo and new GM Phil Jackson have talked about this
being a transition year, I don’t see either of them being satisfied with
missing the playoffs. Additionally, I wouldn’t rule out a mid-season trade that
would help them this year and in the future. Of course, the Knicks are banking
on next summer when Amare Stoudemire’s atrocious contact expires, but I think
they’ll be better this year than people think.

Lance Stephenson
will average 20+ppg and 5+apg and clearly make the all-star team.

Instead of
signing a five-year deal with somebody else, Lance chose to bet on himself this
offseason and signed a three-year deal which will make him a free agent again
when he turns 26. Lance has had obvious maturity issues, but these mask the
fact that he just turned 24 and has made significant improvements in his game
every single year. Going from Indiana to Charlotte will help his stats, of
course, but I think that in the long-run, Lance deserves to be paid
significantly more than he does today. As long as he doesn’t blow in Michael
Jordan’s ear, he’s making the All-Star team this season.

Ricky Rubio will
learn how to shoot and earn a long-term contract starting at ~$10m/year.

This is a
complete shot in the dark, and Rubio could easily shoot 36% this season and
struggle to sign for the mid-level exception in the offseason. However, it just
doesn’t make sense to me how a guy as talented as Rubio cannot shoot more than
38% in a season. The best example of a guy who figured it out is Jason Kidd -
in his first three seasons, Kidd shot 38.5%, 38.1%, and 36.9% from the field.
In his fourth season, he picked it up to 42.3%, and the rest is history; he
finished his career 3rd on the list of the most 3-pointers made. Of course,
Rubio is already an excellent passer, and if he can shoot over, say, 42% in a
season, he will earn himself a long-term contract. I have no idea how good
Minnesota will be this season with Wiggins/Bennett instead of Love, but I
believe that Rubio will get his shooting percentages up into the low-40s.

Kevin Love will
average under 20 pgg.

The return of
King James and the trade for Kevin Love has made Cleveland a clear favorite to
the win the Eastern Conference, and possibly, the NBA title. However,
sacrifices must be made. Most people believe that Love will sacrifice some
numbers playing with James, but I think that it will occur on a much larger
scale. Last season, he averaged 26.5ppg, but this was with a very high usage
rate, playing on a horrible Minnesota team. With James and Irving around, Love
should be third in the pecking order, and it’s not as if Dion Waiters and
Tristian Thompson won’t get some shots. No way does Love score remotely close
to how much he did in Minnesota. I’m of the mindset that this season will
reveal Love to be a far worse player than everybody thinks, even though
Cleveland’s offense should be among the best in the league.

The Golden State
Warriors will have the best defense in the league.

Surprisingly, a
team starting Stephen Curry and David Lee actually had the third best defense
last year, after Indiana and Chicago. Chicago should be a very good team, but I
think that Golden State has more room for improvement this season. While the
loss of coach Mark Jackson is disappointing, Klay Thompson should continue to
improve as a defender, and David Lee’s inevitable decline (he is on the wrong
side of 30, after all) should open up more minutes for Draymond Green, who is a
significantly better defender. The Dubs’ offense was disappointing under
Jackson, so if Steve Kerr is able to bring in new and more creative offensive
sets, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them in the top-10 on offense. These two
should combine for a top-four seed in the West.

The Houston
Rockets will be a 7th seed or worse.

For the first
time in the Daryl Morey era, the Rockets had what seems to be a pretty horrible
off-season. They started by declining Parson’s 5th year option (which would
have paid him $960k) and made him a restricted free agent, only to watch the
Mavs swoop in and offer him a contract starting at $15m/year. Next, they traded
Jeremy Lin, another solid starter, to the Lakers for chump change. Then, they
were spurned by both Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony. Not to be outdone, James
Harden won the award for “misguided comment of the year” by referring to all of
his teammates besides Dwight Howard as “role players” (even if it’s true, you
don’t say that about your teammates), and then made several comments about
finally starting to play defense (really…?). Parsons and Lin are both solid
starters, and even though the Rockets are clearly desperate for their 3rd star,
losing those two will hurt them this season. Going forward, I just don’t see
which star player will fit in well with Howard and Harden, and they definitely
aren’t going to find one this season. I wouldn’t be shocked if they miss the
playoffs in the ultra-competitive West, but I’ll predict that they just sneak
in as a 7 or 8 seed.

The Dallas
Mavericks will win the battle of Texas.

I won’t go as far
as to pick them to have a better overall record than the Spurs (I learned that
the hard way last year when I predicted the Spurs would barely make the
playoffs), but I think they will have the best record in their games against
other Texas teams (Houston, San Antonio). I already discussed that I think
Houston will be a worse team this year, but I think Dallas will be better than
expected. Their offense last year was the best in the league after the all-star
break, and after adding Tyson Chandler to shore up the middle, Dallas will
match up extremely well against San Antonio. Additionally, they took the Spurs
to 7 games in the first round last year.

The Los Angeles Lakers will make the playoffs.

And Kobe Bryant will average 25+ppg. No
explanation for this one, I’m just a Lakers fan. :)

This column is the original work of Daniel Fotinich. Follow him on
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